


Carpe Diem

by DashFlintceschi



Category: You Me At Six
Genre: Dan gives a bad impression, F/M, Wee old lady saves the day, girl!josh - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-29
Updated: 2014-05-29
Packaged: 2018-01-27 00:40:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1708583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DashFlintceschi/pseuds/DashFlintceschi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>How Josh and Dan's relationship came to be.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Carpe Diem

**Author's Note:**

> Just about the only time I've written het since I was 14 or so, and it'll probably be the last. I think this only happened because I liked the thought of Josh in a lemur onesie. I may have to write him in a lemur onesie as a guy, now.

The first time Josh meets Matt’s friend, Dan, is in the queue outside a Coldplay gig in London. Her first thought is ‘ooft, he’s fit’. Her second thought is ‘why the fuck did I need to be wearing a onesie and ratty trainers?’ 

What makes it worse, in Josh’s mind, is that Dan looks fantastic. Dyed, white blonde hair slicked back, slight bit of scruff, tight black t-shirt underneath a leather jacket, and dark skinny jeans, showing off his long, muscled legs. 

She’s stopped from regretting her decision to go warm and comfy over stylish, when the wind picks up a little and the girls in front of them squeal and complain about the cold. Dan turns to look at them and scoffs.

“Maybe if they’d had a bit of common sense like Josh, they wouldn’t have a problem,” he huffs, and Josh can’t help but smile. Her hair may be in a messy ponytail, she may not be wearing any makeup, she may be wearing a lemur onesie, complete with a long tail, and ratty trainers that are only a few wears away from falling apart, but that one statement makes Josh feel ten times prettier than those girls.

The next time Josh runs into Dan, she literally walks into him. It’s just after three in the morning, and she’s just left a night club. She’s only one street over from the club when she realises a group of about five guys have followed her from the club, and are still behind her. She speeds up, looking over her shoulder every few seconds, until she turns a corner and walks straight into Dan.

She turns to apologise, sighing in relief when she sees him.

“Oh, thank god, I’m not going to die in a manky alleyway,” she smiles, making him frown in confusion. He opens his mouth to ask, but before he can, the group of guys round the corner.

“No fair! Hand her over, mate, we saw her first!” One of them insists, and Dan scowls.

“Well, I’ve been shagging her for seven years, so I think you’ll find that I saw her first,” he snaps, wrapping a protective arm around her and leading her past them, to the KFC across the road.

“You’re meeting Matt, then?” She laughs, but he stays quiet, his mouth a thin line and his jaw clenched. He leads her inside and over to a table, where, sure enough, Matt’s sitting with Max and Chris. They greet them cheerily, but they trail off when Dan pushes on Josh’s shoulders to make her sit down, then glares at them.

“Do not let her out of your sight,” he snarls softly, then storms over to the counter. Josh ignores the constant questions until Dan comes back, sliding a Boneless Banquet box and a cup towards her. Instead of taking it, she glares at him.

“What the fuck is your problem?” She snaps, and he laughs bitterly.

“My problem? What the fuck is your problem? What the fuck did you think you were doing, wandering the streets by yourself at three in the fucking morning?!” He spits, and her anger boils over.

“Oh, I forgot, pathetic, weak little women aren’t supposed to go out without a big strong man to protect us, are we?!” She snarls, and he scoffs.

“What the fuck do you think they would’ve done to you if I hadn’t been there?! You really think you could defend yourself against five guys?! I never said you can’t protect yourself, but leaving a club full of drunk, self entitled, sexist bastards, alone, at this time in the morning? Are you trying to get yourself raped and murdered?!” He hisses, and she glares at him suspiciously.

“How the fuck do you know where I was? What, are you stalking me now, you fucking perv?!” He laughs coldly at that.

“Where else would you have been, dressed like that?” He retorts, and she bares her teeth at him.

“Let me guess, next you’ll be saying I was asking for it,” she sneers, and he huffs.

“Would you stop putting words in my damn mouth?! I never said the way you’re dressed had anything to do with it! I just meant, there aren’t many other places you could’ve been coming from, all dressed up at three in the morning, ok? Now, would you shut the fuck up and eat, already?!” He insists, shoving the box at her again and turning to his own.

They eat in tense silence, Josh thinking of several things she wants to say, but she’s too unwilling to start another argument to say them. When they leave to go home, Dan snarls at Josh until she gets into a taxi with him. He tells the driver to take them to Josh’s flat first, and when they get there, he asks the driver to wait, then trails after her up the stairs and along the communal hallway to her door.

“Would you like to check under my bed for the boogie man?” She snarks, and he smiles sarcastically.

“No, but I won’t be moving from your doorstep until I hear the lock closing,” he insists, and she gives him a mocking salute, heading into her flat and relishing the chance to slam the door in his face. She makes sure to close the three locks loud enough for him to hear, and rattles the chain as she slides it into place, then hovers at the door listening for his footsteps, to make sure he fucks off. Once he’s gone, she wanders into her bedroom and gets changed for bed, wondering how she could ever have fancied someone with such a horrible attitude.

A few days later, Josh is at work, at a small, independent coffee shop, when Chris comes in. She’s glad to see him, until she notices Dan’s with him. She groans quietly to herself, smiling at Chris as he gets to the counter, while completely ignoring Dan. They use the fact that the shop’s completely empty to stand talking for a while, Dan standing awkwardly to one side. After a while, a few customers wander in, so Chris and Dan order drinks and leave her to work. Quite a few people filter in after that, so Josh is so busy, she doesn’t notice Dan standing in the queue until he’s standing right in front of her. He’s the only person left waiting, so while she makes his and Chris’ refills, he leans against the counter.

“So, um, I was wondering if you wanted to see that new horror film, um, The Conjuring, with me on Friday?” He asks quietly, and she tries to hold the laugh in, she really does, but she can’t help it as it bubbles out.

“You’re kidding me, right? After the way you treated me like a particularly stupid child the other night? I think I’m going to have to go with ‘no’,” she tells him, and he sighs.

“Look, I’m sorry about the other night. You’re right, I was out of line with the way I treated you, but between the look of sheer terror in your eyes, and the way those guys were looking at you, it scared the hell out of me. I know that’s not a good reason, but it’s the only one I have. If you won’t let me take you on a date, at least let me take you out to apologise?” He asks, looking genuinely apologetic. She considers it for a minute, and she’s about to answer, when a voice pipes up behind Dan.

“Oh, go on, love, give the poor lad a chance,” they both look and find a tiny, elderly lady standing waiting to be served, and they both blush.

“Well, I was going to say no, only because I don’t have a good track record with horror films, but bugger it, yeah, why not?” Josh replies, and both Dan and the tiny lady grin.

“Don’t worry, you can hide behind me if you need to,” Dan reassures, his grin turning to a cheeky smile. Josh just shakes her head with a laugh and shoves his drinks across the counter at him.

Josh spends the rest of the week dithering over what to wear. It may not be a date, but Josh wants to make up for the two times Dan’s seen her not at her best, first in a onesie, then in her work uniform. Finally, she settles on light blue skinny jeans, a black vest top that’s slightly lower cut than she’d thought it was, with a blue checked shirt left open on top of it, and a pair of light grey strappy stilettos. She doesn’t think she looks that good, but clearly Dan thinks differently, by the way his mouth drops open slightly and he looks her up and down when she opens the door to him.

“Y-you look really, really great,” he tells her, seeming to stumble over his own tongue, and she can’t help the grin.

“Thanks, you’re not half bad yourself,” she returns, grabbing her bag and moving out into the hall with him.

It turns out she does have to hide behind Dan’s shoulder a few times, until she gets fed up of him being a gentleman and pulls his arm around her shoulders, so she can lean on him and just turn her head to hide her face in his shoulder when she starts getting freaked out. As they leave the cinema, Dan keeps his arm around her shoulders, and Josh finds she doesn’t mind. He tilts his head questioningly towards a Domino’s a few doors down, and she nods enthusiastically. Once they’re settled at a table and have their drinks, Dan laughs softly.

“I can’t believe you thought that was scary,” he comments, and she pouts.

“Not scary, exactly, just… It just freaked me out a little. And besides, I felt you jump a few times, so don’t act like a big, fearless hard man,” she defends, and he shrugs.

“I’m not, I’m just saying, other than a few jump scares, it wasn’t all that scary,” he insists, and she shrugs in return.

“Yeah, well, some of us freak out more easily than others,” she retorts, just as the overly friendly waitress comes back. Josh is grateful that Dan pays no attention to the waitress’s flirting, giving her his order with barely a glance in her direction. When Josh orders a large pizza, Dan looks surprised, and the waitress gives her a look that screams ‘fat ass’, but Josh pays her about as much attention as Dan did.

Dan seems even more surprised when Josh finishes the whole thing without struggle, and as they walk back to his car, he just has to ask.

“Alright, I need to know, how the hell do you eat like that, but look like that?” He demands, and Josh laughs slightly.

“Moderation. Most of the time, I eat pretty healthy, and when I go to the gym, I’m one hell of a slave driver,” she explains, and he laughs with a nod, understanding completely, as he tends to be the same.

When they get to Josh’s building, she looks up at her dark windows apprehensively, then turns to Dan with wide pleading eyes. She really wasn’t kidding about being freaked out.

“Want me to come up with you and chase away the boogie man?” He asks with a smile, and she nods quickly. He works his way through each room, turning on all the lights for her, and of course, finds nothing. Josh can’t help but feel a bit guilty for dragging him up here, just because she’s a wimp, so she offers him tea, which he gladly accepts. One cup turns into three, and before Josh knows it, it’s one in the morning.

“Fuck, I’ve got work in the morning,” she notes, and Dan stands up with a yawn.

“That’s my cue to leave,” he replies, and she frowns at him worriedly.

“Are you alright to drive?” She asks, and he smiles reassuringly.

“Yeah, I usually work the 7PM ‘til 3AM shift, so I’ve gotten into the habit of sleeping until about 1 in the afternoon, I’m good,” he insists, and she nods as she walks him to the door. They say goodnight, and he turns to leave, but she grabs his arm and presses a quick kiss to his cheek.

“Turns out the first impression was the right one,” she comments softly, stepping back with a smile.

“Yeah, guess so,” he murmurs, backing towards the stairs with a slightly stunned look on his face. She giggles slightly as she gives him a small wave and closes the door, surprisingly glad for the little old lady sticking her nose in.


End file.
